Since it’s high summer and the heat is intense, I thought I’d show something cooling to the eye, a shibori dyed cotton yukata, an unlined, casual kimono.This yukata is dyed using two methods, which is not immediately apparent. The first is a vertically pleated shibori technique, referred to as suji shibori.If you look at the photograph, below, you’ll see the irregularly spaced suji shibori–and then alongside the shibori you’ll notice regularly spaced vertical lines. This is done with by applying dye directly to the cloth through a stencil. This process is called surikomi.The suji shibori and surikomi processes are very apparent in the photos above and below.I love the “point/counterpoint” effect of the pleated, irregularly spaced shibori against the regularly spaced surikomi dyed lines.

This is a man’s yukata, most likely dyed in Arimatsu, Japan, and it dates to the early twentieth century.